Pothencode: Eleven persons including a woman were arrested by the Pothencode police on Thursday on charges of holding a minor dalit girl captive for sex trade.
The victim was lured by a man hailing from Paravur in Kollam on the promise of marriage and was sold to clients in Kanyakumari, Nagercoil, Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts.
The police, who are on the lookout for the remaining five accused, said the gang operated a website to advertise themselves to prospective clients.
She was kept in confinement by the gang for eleven days, the police added.
The arrested were Philomena alias Priya alias Betty, 38, of Arayacheri House, Thumboli, Alappuzha, Sunil John, 38, of Jansi Bhavan, Chavara, Kollam, Praveen, 34, of Thiruvathira, Vazhavila, Kattayikonam, Anoop Krishnan alias Kannappan, 26, of Eenthivilaveettil Manikkal, Pullambara, Aneeb Rafi, 24, of Thadatharikathu Veettil, near Manikkal Masjid, Abu, 34, of Chalil Laksham Veettil, near Kaniyapuram railway gate, Shakeer, 34, of Shami Manzil, Answara Residency, Chanthavila, Kattayikonam, Pramod, 47, of Aluvila Veettil, Kattayikonam, Shereef, 37, of Shifin Manzil, near Nethajipuram milk society, Ratheesh Kumar, 34, of F 188, TC 34/1162, Souparnika, Sreechithira Nagar, near old airport, Pettah, and Ajayakumar alias Aju, of Thundathil Veettil, near Thudathil school, Chenkottukoanam.
All of them were produced before the Attingal Judicial First Class Magistrate and remanded on Thursday.
The police have collected the statement of the victim in which she said she was lured by the native of Paravur to his friend’s house in the locality with the promise of marriage. Both of them sexually exploited her before handing her over to an autorickshaw driver in Attingal, who later acted as middleman for supplying her for flesh trade, the police said.
The autorickshaw driver took her to a flat in Vettu Road where Priya and Sunil stayed. The two men raped her before supplying her to a medical representative in Kanyakumari. She was later taken to a flat in Kanyakumari from where the 10th to the 13th accused sexually exploited her, the police said.
After returning from Kanyakumari, the 7th to the 9th accused too sexually abused her at Sunil’s flat in Vettu Road. She was handed over to the 14th accused at a flat in Kariavattom.
The girl was kept in confinement at the residence of the 15th accused, the police said. She managed to escape after 10 days of captivity and returned to her home on Wednesday.
The gang members were nabbed by a police team headed by Pothencode CI S. Shaji and Mangalapuram SI K. V. Bineesh Lal.